Every once in a while, as I go about my business in the secular world, a non-Jewish passerby notices my kippa and approaches, then offers the greeting that is somewhat well-known in popular culture as the one Jews prefer: "Shalom." I appreciate this cross-cultural gesture, and I always respond with my own cordial "Shalom," but I feel like something's missing.

I recently saw the movie Black Panther, and noticed that when people from the nation of Wakanda portrayed therein greet each other with the traditional "Wakanda forever!" they have a really cool salute to go with it. That made me think that there must be a really cool gesture in Jewish tradition that goes with the "Shalom" greeting, that I just don't know about yet.

This gap in my knowledge makes me sad. Here I am, going around visibly representing an ancient body of tradition, and when someone notices and engages in our traditional greeting, I don't know the impressive ancient move to make when responding, so that my greeter can leave the meeting satisfied that they've not only exchanged greetings with an authentic Jew, but that it was an awesome encounter with an ancient tribe.

So, what is the traditional gesture to make when extending the Shalom greeting? What details should one make sure to include so that it comes off as authentically awesome?

well don't you know that the real jews were actually black so the wakanda salute is good enough
– ezraMar 15 '19 at 3:02

5

That's easy! A confused look on your face as you suddenly look behind you, trying to figure out if someone is calling your name or you failed to recognize an acquaintance. I do it all the time.
– ShalomMar 15 '19 at 3:26

@DonielF There already is one (mentioned by Solomon Maimon in the beginning of his autobiography).
– AlexJul 1 '19 at 0:01

The Vulcan salute would be most accurate, here. It consists of a raised hand with the palm forward and the thumb extended, while the fingers are parted between the middle and ring finger.

Its origins are closely related, too. As Wikipedia teaches us:

In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the gesture. The letter Shin here stands for El Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)", as well as for Shekinah and Shalom. Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue, where he saw the blessing performed and was impressed by it.

The best part is, you can try it right at the keyboard with this emoji.

Dr. Shmuel mentioned the Vulcan Salute - a good option. But, I have heard that since that gesture came from Leonard Nimoy a"h, who claims that he saw the Cohanim use this gesture while they were blessing the people, and he wasn't supposed to look, it indicates that he may have disobeyed the halacha and used that disobedience to promote the idea on a famous TV series. Sounds like a case of "mitvah haba me'aveirah."